By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader yesterday said escalating crime was deterring him from investing further in Nassau-based business ventures, with the US Embassy taking just five days to issue its first crime warning for 2016.

Branville McCartney told Tribune Business that any economic growth initiatives undertaken by the Bahamas would be “for nought” unless crime was brought under control, branding this nation as “one of the worst places” in the Caribbean when it came to personal safety.

Emphasising that foreign investors would not risk their capital in jurisdictions that were perceived to be unsafe, Mr McCartney said his own family members were taking drastic precautions to prevent themselves becoming victims of crime.

He disclosed to Tribune Business that some of his relatives were closing their businesses early at 4pm, so they could be home before dark, while others were regularly switching the vehicles and routes they took to work.

Mr McCartney’s comments came after the US Embassy yesterday revealed all its staff have been banned from renting and using jet skis, an industry it described as “only minimally regulated”.

The advisory, issued just five days into the New Year, urged all US tourists and residents to also shun the jet ski industry, adding that there had been five sexual assaults committed by operators against American citizens in just over 18 months.

The latest is alleged to have occurred on January 2, 2016, and the advisory read: “The US Embassy in Nassau advises US citizens residing in and travelling to the Bahamas to be aware of their surroundings and remain on heightened alert to avoid being victims of crime.

“Since July 2014 there have been five sexual assaults of US citizens by jet ski operators in Nassau, the most recent on January 2, 2016. As a result, the US Embassy has prohibited personnel under US Embassy Chief of Mission authority from using the services of jet ski rental operators in Nassau. This includes jet ski operators on Cabbage Beach and Cable Beach.

“We strongly advise that US citizens do the same and not patronise these services. Jet ski rentals in the Bahamas are only minimally regulated.”

Continuing a warning that will do little to enhance the Bahamas’ tourism and foreign direct investment (FDI) prospects, the US Embassy added: “US citizens residing in or travelling to the Bahamas should review their personal security plans.

“At all times, maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security...... If confronted by armed criminals, remember your vehicle or valuables are not worth your life or anyone else’s life.”

Reacting to the latest US embassy missive, Mr McCartney told this newspaper: “We can speak about investment coming to the Bahamas, and Baha Mar trying to open up, but all of that is for nought if we don’t get this crime problem under control.

“We are one of the worst places in the region when it comes down to crime, and no investor wants to invest money in an unsafe jurisdiction.”

With the Bahamas rocked by a new annual murder rate of 149 in 2015, Mr McCartney said “there’s no way” in which many Bahamian businesses can function properly amid the crime crisis.

Using his own relatives as an example, the DNA leader said: “I have family members who close up early at 4pm because of crime. They’re taking different vehicles, taking different routes to work, and having someone else drive them.

“From a business point of view, it’s affecting us tremendously. People don’t want to be out after dark. I am afraid of going home at night, pulling up at a stop sign or red light, calling people to say I’m on my way, and looking around before I get out of my car.

“We have people leaving this jurisdiction, Bahamians and non-Bahamians, because it’s not safe,” Mr McCartney added.

“The number one priority of this government must be to get crime under control. I hope the Prime Minister is seriously taking into consideration, before anything else, getting crime under control, enforcing the law and making people realise there are consequences for their actions.

“These guys are running amok in our country. They have no respect for human life, no respect for the law, and no respect for property. It’s like the Wild Wild West.”

Mr McCartney said crime was deterring him personally from investing in Nassau-based businesses, and added that such a sentiment was shared by many other Bahamians.

“As a businessman wanting to invest more, I am reluctant to continue to invest personally in this country; in New Providence and Nassau, particularly, because of the crime problem,” he told Tribune Business.

“Other people feel the same way. They are reluctant to get involved in investing, involved in businesses.”

In other words, crime - and the fear of crime - are deterring Bahamians from investing in their own economy, and creating sustainable businesses that would employ many of their fellow countrymen.

Mr McCartney said it was particularly “unfortunate” that the latest US Embassy crime warning coincided with a day in which the Government launched the online company registration and incorporation service at the Registrar General’s Department.

The DNA leader agreed that this was a “move in the right direction” when it came to improving the Bahamas’ so-called ‘ease of doing business’, and would benefit business and investors.

Yet this will now be overshadowed to some extent by the US Embassy’s crime warning, a development that Mr McCartney described as “very sad and very telling”.

He added: “For this economy to grow, and Bahamians to be doing more business and investing in this country, crime must be taken in hand and reduced significantly.”